Container



Jan. 8, 1963 w. BISHOP CONTAINER Filed Oct. 20, 1959 [20L F/CL/ m 2 E vH m; A m J V 8 w P; m 5/ a a a 3% l J m. n 4, f 3 m w "E3 if I T United States Patent f 3,072,248 CONTAINER William Bishop, Tarzana, Califi, assignor to William Bishop Company, Burbank, Califi, a corporation of California Filed Oct. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 847,518 2 Claims. (Cl. 206-56) This invention relates to disposable containers for dispensing materials such as salt, pepper, and the like.

This invention provides a container which is an improvement over the type disclosed in US. Patent 2,499,- 313. The patented container is made up of two flexible sheets sealed together around their edges, and sealed together along elongated and laterally spaced areas so that a plurality of separate chambers extending for substantially the entire length of the container are formed between adjacent sealed areas. The container is adapted to be split open along a line which is perpendicular to the direction of the separate chambers so that the contents therein can be shaken out. The patented container has found wide acceptance, but it suffers the disadvantage that when it is broken open, the openings formed for dispensing the material therein are so large that it is difiicult to dispense the material in the container at the rate desired. This is particularly true for seasonings such as salt.

Another disadvantage of the prior art containers is that the sealed together areas, which extend for substantially the entire length of the container, occupy a large space, and seriously limit the amount of material which can be stored in the container without making its size so large as to be bulky and unsuitable for commercial use. For this reason, the patented containers are limited in how small the separate chambers can be made because of the large loss of storage volume between adjacent chambers.

This invention provides a container adapted to be opened by tearing, and having a plurality of relatively small openings so that the material therein can be dispersed with better control than is now possible with the presently available containers.

Briefly, this invention contemplates a container for dispensing materials comprising two sheets sealed together around their edges to define an enclosed envelope portion for holding the material to be dispensed. The insides of the sheets are in contact with each other at a plurality of spaced apart areas within the envelope portion of the container so as to form a plurality of spaced apart orifices. The length of the constricted areas is limited so that the lengths of the orifices formed between adjacent areas are substantially less than the maximum dimension of the envelope. With this arrangement, the orifices can be made much smaller than with presently available containers, and can also contain more material than presently available containers of the same size.

In the preferred form of this invention, the container is made structurally weak along a line generally trans verse to the direction in which the orifices open, and yet spaced sufiiciently far away so as not to change the effective size of the orifices when the container is torn along the weakened line.

These and other aspects of the invention will be more fully understood from the detailed description in which:

3,072,248 PatentedJan. 8, 1963 FIG. 1 is a plan view of the presently preferred embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawing, a pair of rectangular sheets 10 of suitable flexible material such as paper, cardboard, plastic, etc., are stacked together and sealed around their edges in a border portion 12 to form an enclosed envelope portion 13. As can be seen best in FIG. 1, the top border 12A is substantially wider than the side and bottom borders.

The inside surfaces in the envelope portion of the container are sealed together at a plurality of relatively small areas 14 so that a plurality of small orifices 16 are formed between adjacent sealed areas and lie along a line which is parallel to and spaced from the inside edge of the top border 12A.

As shown most clearly in FIGS. 2 and 3, the outside surface of each sheet 10 includes a V-shaped groove 18 parallel to the inside edge of the top border, and approximately half way between the upper ends of the orifices and the inside edge of the top border. The V- shaped grooves 18 in each sheet are exactly the same dis tance from the inside edge of the top border. Each sheet also includes a V-shaped notch 20 (see FIG. 1) in its edge at opposite ends of its respective V-shaped groove so that the top of the container can readily be torn off along a line defined by the V-shaped grooves in the sheets. When the container is so ripped, it is opened without disturbing the size of the orifices lying between the sealed areas 14. Moreover, since the sealed areas are relatively limited in their extent, they can be spaced close together so the orifices formed between adjacent areas are small, and yet the volume of the container envelope is not unduly reduced. It will be apparent that such an arrangement is a definite advantage over the patented container because the container can be provided with smaller orifices for better control of the dispensed material, and the container can be opened without changing the effective opening of the orifices.

The sealed together areas can be formed in a plurality of ways. For example, it relatively stiff paper is used, the areas may be formed simply by pressing the sheets together in the desired locations. Alternatively, the sheets are sealed together by suitable hinder or adhesive, or if a plastic such as polyethylene is used, the areas are sealed by the application of heat while the sheets are held together in the desired locations.

As is obvious from the drawings, the sheets 10 defining the side walls of the container 13 are spaced apart substantially uniformly and throughout their entire area except at the area 14 and at the edge seams. Obviously the spacing is accomplished by preforrning the sheets 10 so that when their edges are sealed together their unsealed portions are spaced apart as shown and described.

I claim:

1. A container for dispensing granular or the like material comprising: a pair of generally rectangular sheets of relatively stafi? tearable material sealed together around their edges and formed to define a closed envelope containing a quantity of the material to be dispensed and having walls preformed so as to be substantially uniformly spaced apart throughout their areas except at a plurality of small spaced apart areas thereof; said small areas being held in face-to-face contact and arranged in a row across said container generally parallel to but spaced from one of said sealed edges; said areas extending generally perpendicular to said one edge and being of a short length relative to the length of said envelope; the spaces between said areas comprising open passageways extending toward said one edge; and means defining a plane of weakness across said envelope between said areas and said one edge whereby said envelope may be opened by tearing said sheets along said plane of Weakness.

2. A container as defined in claim 1 wherein said last-named means comprises a groove extending across each sheet through one face thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 24,251 Kaplan Dec. 4, 1956 1,286,877 Graham Dec. 3, 1918 2,923,404 Adell Feb. 2, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 599,183 Great Britain Mar. 5, 1948 1,056,953 Germany May 6, 1959 

1. A CONTAINER FOR DISPENSING GRANULAR OR THE LIKE MATERIAL COMPRISING: A PAIR OF GENERALLY RECTANGULAR SHEETS OF RELATIVELY STAFF TEARABLE MATERIAL SEALED TOGETHER AROUND THEIR EDGES AND FORMED TO DEFINE A CLOSED ENVELOPE CONTAINING A QUANTITY OF THE MATERIAL TO BE DISPENSED AND HAVING WALLS PREFORMED SO AS TO BE SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORMLY SPACED APART THROUGHOUT THEIR AREAS EXCEPT AT A PLURALITY OF SMALL SPACED APART AREAS THEREOF; SAID SMALL AREAS BEING HELD IN FACE-TO-FACE CONTACT AND ARRANGED IN A ROW ACROSS SAID CONTAINER GENERALLY PARALLEL TO BUT SPACED FROM ONE OF SAID SEALED EDGES; SAID AREAS EXTENDING GENERALLY PERPENDICULAR TO SAID ONE EDGE AND BEING OF A SHORT LENGTH RELATIVE TO THE LENGTH OF SAID ENVELOPE; THE SPACES BETWEEN SAID AREAS COMPRISING OPEN PASSAGEWAYS EXTENDING TOWARD SAID ONE EDGE; AND MEANS DEFINING A PLANE OF WEAKNESS ACROSS SAID ENVELOPE BETWEEN SAID AREAS AND SAID ONE EDGE WHEREBY SAID ENVELOPE MAY BE OPENED BY TEARING SAID SHEETS ALONG SAID PLANE OF WEAKNESS. 